Chrono X Angel, Book 5: Winds of Change

Chapter 9

October 17th
The walls of the room were tall, sterile white things that stretched at least twenty feet high, reflected on which was light from what had to be a window that could not be seen. In either direction a wooden floor seemed to stretch on endlessly, though a corner was visible ahead. Doors lined the quite narrow hallway, many doors at odd angles, but with no clear way of opening them.
This was where Usoko currently found herself, not sure how she had gotten here, or what she was doing. She had tried breaking through one of the doors, but without both her arms to swing the bat, she just did not have the strength. Now she found herself running, fleeing a sound that had started coming towards her. It had an odd, otherworldly resonance that could not be described easily, but it was a wet and echoing noise. No matter how far Usoko would run, she could hear the same sound just out of sight behind her, so she kept running. Soon after rounding a corner, she found herself confronted with an entirely new area to this weird place she was in. It was a sort of pool, indoors, with several dark alcoves one could dive into and perhaps explore? The bottom went down what looked to be at least 100 feet, with no ladder to grab onto, and a pool lip at least ten inches above the water line. The alcoves, at least, looked shallow enough to get something of a grip on to keep ones head above the water, and perhaps they led to a safer area? The resonance sounded again, but closer now, and on instinct Usoko turned to see if she could spot whatever it was making the sound. Instead, she discovered that the hall she had been in seconds ago had transformed. Now, it was a wide open room, still with the same high white walls and wooden floors, but now with a dark red carpet in the center, where a similarly colored chair with gold trim sat empty. Hesitantly, she approached the chair when the whole structure began to shake violently, and the resonance became a roaring gale of wind and earthquake.
With a scream, Usoko jolted up out of bed. It was the third time she had that same nightmare, ever since she had left Kaiju Island. It was always the same, in that same bizarre space that seemed almost alive. Alive and angry. She had first seen it in the temple, and had explored it in much greater detail then. The pool's alcoves, she had discovered, led to a victorian-era dining room. One that seemed ready for guests at any moment although everything in the room, including the room itself, was in half scale, as though made for children. Beyond it, through a curtain, lay an island. Deserted, but once inhabited by some manner of mining operation perhaps? Distant structures could be seen, but Usoko had not been able to get a good look at them before Sarah had ripped her out from the vision. Apparently the Banshee had not seen any of it, and as Usoko herself was not for sure what she had seen, had just told Sarah she had not seen anything either.
She had always hated big open indoor areas like that, ever since she had been a kid. Something about them just gave her the willies in a way she could not describe. Atriums were fine. Things like museums were... okay. But large, empty liminal areas like the kind in her dream filled her with an unknown dread.

"That's the third night in a row," she sighed, rolling over and checking her phone to see what time it was. 3:13 AM. Lovely.
Oh hey, a text from Nonami.

"Usoko, report to GARDNA as soon as physically possible. I know you will likely not see this until morning, but make haste. Contact Lydia."

Usoko felt her stomach drop. The text had come just after she had gone to bed, about five hours ago. In a flash, she was out of bed and throwing on a quick outfit. A pinkish purple warm shirt and a dark red/brown buckled skirt, as well as some black leggings. Remembering the new prosthetic Emi had gifted her before she had left, Usoko attached to her shoulder and gave it a few quick test movements. It looked almost like a real arm, covered in a synthetic flesh which was laid over an intricate and complex device combining the most modern advances in cybernetics with good old fashioned clockwork machinery. It tapped directly into her nervous system, and the movement responses were just so slightly delayed from what her brain was telling it do. Still, Usoko was certain that with practice she could quickly adjust. Hopefully she would not need to so soon though, she thought grimly as she headed out the door and dialed Lydia's number to let the Catgirl know she was coming.